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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28373274">Precious</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlushingTeddybear/pseuds/Ramen'>Ramen (BlushingTeddybear)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Pillow Talk, Werewolf!Hubert, rated M for mention of sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:53:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28373274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlushingTeddybear/pseuds/Ramen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sylvain laughed again and Hubert stared. The war left many marks on the redhead’s face—a scar across his eye, another one, smaller, on his chin, crow’s feet adorning his eyes when he smiled—all held the same meaning. Sylvain lived, was still breathing, still warm under Hubert’s palms, moving under him, tangling their legs together and laughing like the war never happened. Like Hubert alone could make him forget five years of suffering.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sylvain Jose Gautier/Hubert von Vestra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Precious</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my Sylvbert Secret Santa gift for Shulk on Twitter! They asked for something fluffy and cute with werewolf!Hubert so I did my best to deliver some tooth-rotting sweetness. I also dedicate this fic to the innumerable dark academia/royaltycore playlists on youtube for giving me The Vibe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Sylvain awoke to the first rays of a cold autumn sun, with a weak, miserable grunt. His back was denied the comfort of his blanket and the chill made his whole body shiver. Almost instinctually, he snuggled even closer to the body between his arms, wriggling his toned little behind back under the cover. A growl answered his quest for warmth and he promptly kissed the neck in front of him.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Good morning, love. The sun is up already,” he whispered with a fond smile on his lips.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The body stirred in his embrace and turned around, offering Sylvain the rare and inestimable view of Hubert’s face slightly reddened.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Mrhm,” replied the mage, eyes heavy-lidded.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah, I know.” With a peck on his partner’s forehead he circled Hubert’s side, pulling him closer. Hubert was warm all over, bundled in the blanket, fluffy tail resting peacefully behind his thighs.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The night had been long and so was the night before with Hubert’s rut keeping the both of them awake and busy even as the rest of the castle was still in slumber. Now that the raging storm of the mage’s instincts had worn off, Sylvain wanted him to rest. And he knew from experience that the best remedy for a sore and grumpy Minister of the Imperial Household was a lazy morning in a warm, comfy bed, in Sylvain’s warm, comfy arms.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert stirred again, his ears flicking against Sylvain’s mouth, the soft fur the same dark ebony as his hair. He hadn’t gone out for two days and two nights and thus his scent wasn’t tainted with the occasional foul stench of death and poisons that he would sometimes bring back from a mission. Sylvain buried his nose in the wavy locks, inhaled Hubert’s true scent, the tinge of sweat that would taste like salt on his tongue, the fading floral smell of the toiletries Edelgard had gifted him on his last birthday, and under all of that the raw musk that was <em>Hubert’s</em>. It could drive Sylvain crazy, when the room was filled with both their scent, overlapping, mixing, creating a new fragrance of <em>them</em>, and he reckoned Hubert and his superior sense of smell would be even more affected than he by this.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Sylvain released a sigh and kissed the top of Hubert’s head. It felt like home, the kind of domesticity he’s never felt before, even—especially as a child. It truly was a wonder that such a ghoulish man, the feared spymaster of the Emperor would inspire him such ease, he thought with a smile.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">An arm snaked around his midsection, legs slowly became entangled with his own like an inexorable truth and something tight curled in Sylvain’s throat. It wasn’t the first time he felt it, and he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last, not if it was Hubert.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Slept well?” he asked in a croaky voice.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Mhm… Five more minutes…”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Sylvain chuckled softly. “Of course.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">He didn’t remember falling asleep again but somehow it wasn’t a surprise when he woke up again in an empty bed. The space next to him was still warm and he rolled over to the left side of the bed—<em>Hubert’s</em> side—to bask in the last remnants of his lover’s scent.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">He only had a few seconds to himself before Hubert’s figure appeared above him, still naked from the waist up, a few drops trickling from his wet hair.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Are you awake?” The hand gently brushing Sylvain’s hair was cold, nothing like the burning heat they had both experienced the last night.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah,” the redhead replied with a fond smile and he reached for his lover, his callused fingers meeting the soft expanse of Hubert’s pale skin.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“It is still early in the morning, you do not have to get up just yet.” This sounded great in Sylvain’s ears, but if Hubert had planned to leave him there and go on about his day, the redhead would have none of it.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The mage was a lightweight compared to Sylvain. His muscles lacked the volume built by years, decades of martial training. Hubert was lean and pale and the cavalier had more than once wondered, as he ran his fingers over the patch of fur covering his lover’s back, how heavy the duty must’ve weighed on those bony shoulders. This time though, Hubert was but a feather unceremoniously pulled back to bed, dripping hair wetting the bedding and Sylvain as he fell on the redhead with the grace of a tipsy bear.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“You’re so cold,” hissed Sylvain, mischief lingering in his eyes.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I did not ask to be forcefully put back to bed.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah, no, you didn’t.” Shimmying them both under the covers while keeping Hubert close was not an easy task, but thank the Goddess Sylvain managed to succeed, their bodies a mess of tangled limbs and shared warmth.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Are you satisfied now?” Hubert asked, his tone devoid of any venom, and the lips against his skin curved into a smile.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, thank you,” Sylvain breathed, “I just needed my dose of you.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The mage scoffed. “You want me to believe you haven’t gotten your fill those past days?” Sylvain shook his head and tightened his hold. “You’re insatiable, truly.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Mhm,” the cavalier replied, “but you were the one clinging onto me so tight last night like you couldn’t get enough of me, so who’s the insatiable one, uh? I wonder…”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert grumbled something Sylvain didn’t quite catch on, yet the redhead still chuckled heartily. Furred ears flicked against his face with irritation.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“So, what’s your plans for today? You’re so eager to get up and leave me so soon, must be important.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I have been away from my duties for two days, Sylvain, of course there are important matters that need to be tended to.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“More important than me?” Hubert sighed.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“They are matters of the state. There is no point even asking because they <em>are</em> more important than you.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Harsh,” Sylvain laughed. “But true. Edelgard is so lucky to have you by her side.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert looked up from where he was pressed against Sylvain’s chest and raised a brow, suspicious. Sylvain carded gentle fingers through dark locks, the touch warm and comforting as he cupped Hubert’s jaw.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Am I wrong? You’re such a good boy—“</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Do not call me that.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">With only a glance to the side, the smile on Sylvain’s face grew wider, a perfect picture of mischief the mage could not turn his eyes away from. “But you <em>are</em> a good boy, Hubert.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert could spit venom and glare daggers as much as he wanted, protecting his pride from Sylvain’s bold and bottomless insolence, his own body betrayed him, his carefully crafted image of a fearsome spy torn to shred by the simple, earnest wag of his tail. He blushed, defeated. But Sylvain had that power of turning even the bitterest defeat into a honey sweet treat with only a couple of words and the rough caress of his thumb brushing against Hubert’s cheek.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert closed his eyes and leaned in Sylvain’s touch. He would purr if he could, he would do that for him, yes. Were he someone else, in another body, in another life, maybe he would’ve been able to tell Sylvain how he truly felt, the true extent of his love. Maybe they wouldn’t even have met and that thought was terrifying enough on its own for Hubert to open his eyes again, search for comfort into the warm amber of Sylvain’s gaze.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Are you alright, love?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yes,” Hubert replied, a smile hiding in the crook of his dimple. “There are a few council meetings I have to attend to today. I also need to read Ferdinand’s reports to make up for the last two days and they’re always so…”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Too many words and epithets?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Exactly,” the mage sighed. “He doesn’t hold back on the details at least, but I do wish he would learn the art of conciseness.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Sylvain chuckled and shifted his position under Hubert’s now properly dried body. The flex of his muscles as he raised his arms over his head would’ve brought Hubert’s demise if he wasn’t already used to the sight. He reached a pale hand to a biceps, tracing the subtle curve of it with his finger.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“What about you, Sylvain? Was there anything you wanted to do today instead of lying around all day?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Well, nothing is set in stone just yet, but I was actually thinking about taking Maria for a ride. Take a little stroll outside just me and her to stay in shape. Cut through the orchard so she can get a little treat on the way.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“My, what a spoiled beast.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“What?” Sylvain grinned. “Are you jealous by any chance?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert scoffed. “Never, not of a <em>horse</em>.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Sylvain laughed again and Hubert stared. The war left many marks on the redhead’s face—a scar across his eye, another one, smaller, on his chin, crow’s feet adorning his eyes when he smiled—all held the same meaning. Sylvain lived, was still breathing, still warm under Hubert’s palms, moving under him, tangling their legs together and laughing like the war never happened. Like Hubert alone could make him forget five years of suffering.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Two hands cupped his head, pulled him from his pondering. Sylvain stared straight into his soul, yet his fingers remained gentle as they combed through dark locks.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“What is it?” Hubert asked, breaking the silence. Sylvain was nervous, it was plain to see, but the reason why escaped him.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I was just wondering about something…”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Hm?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The redhead took a deep breath. “Now that the war is over and we don’t have to, you know, fight for our lives… What is going to happen next?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert shifted under the covers, away from the reassuring touch of Sylvain’s hands to look at him properly.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I have a duty to serve the Emperor,” he started. “To stay by her side and aid her in the building of a new era. I will dedicate the rest of my life to this cause.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yes, I know that.” He smiled.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Were you worried about your future, Sylvain?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Well,” the redhead sighed, eyes wandering about, “I was thinking about going back to Gautier, take over the estate, follow my father’s footsteps. Edelgard personally asked me to take the position. She said she would trust me at the border.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1"><em>So that was the source of his torment</em>, Hubert thought with a tinge of bitterness. He tried for a second to imagine what his everyday would be like without Sylvain’s presence nearby and found out he didn’t like it. They had been seeing each other for more than five years now, out of necessity at first, then convenience. But with each hour spent in the cavalier’s strong arms, with each stolen glance and lingering caress something had grown between them. To think about a world where that connection might be lost perhaps forever, it was unbearable.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">On the other hand, it was a direct order from Lady Edelgard, and if Sylvain truly missed the endless, frozen tundra and all the memories the ice kept in its core, then Hubert couldn’t intervene.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Even though the words never left his mouth in that order, he loved Sylvain. His earnest, slightly crooked smile. His bold insolence and mischievous eyes. The way his hand was trembling the first time Hubert held him. In Hubert’s heart, Sylvain was the most precious treasure, always giving and never equaled. To lose him…</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert sat on the bed, unable to meet Sylvain’s eyes and read excitement in them.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“What did you say then?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I asked her some time to think about it. It’s a big position, I don’t know if I have the shoulders for it.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“You’re a capable man, Sylvain. You have the shoulders, the chest and the backside for it as long as you believe in yourself.” Sylvain laughed behind him and a weight lifted off Hubert’s shoulders.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“What is that? The infamously grim Hubert von Vestra cracking jokes about my behind? Do you like it that much?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert turned his head, just enough to glimpse at the radiant smile he decidedly could not live without. “Yes, I do. But as far as I know, you are already aware of it, Gautier.” He paused. “Why do you need time to think? It’s a profitable position and you have Her Majesty’s benediction. What could hold you back?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Sylvain didn’t reply right away, leaving Hubert’s imagination roam free and to the darkest places. <em>“You’re right, nothing holds me back,”</em> would be devastating to the mage’s ego. Being pitied would anger him, however. He had boasted himself as a tool for so long, to be treated like an hindrance would definitely rub him the wrong way.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“It’s true I have many memories there,” Sylvain started. “But there aren’t many happy ones. If I ever go back there, I might burn the place down to the ground.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">He pulled on Hubert’s arm, coaxing his lover to face him.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I can go back and become the next Margrave. I could help my people and even reconnect with Sreng, set a new path for my homeland. But, Hubert, I need to know there is a place I can go back to when all of this is done.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The hand around his arm tightened, Hubert frowned. “What do you mean?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I am the most at home at your side, Hubert. And I would be the happiest man of the realm if you let me stay there.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert felt himself blush, mirroring the dark pink staining Sylvain’s whole face.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“But— I—“</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“With all the things war took from me, it also gave me the most precious treasure in my entire life. Had I the chance to start again from the beginning, I would still follow the same path without hesitating, as long as it leads to you.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Sylvain took his hand, his thumb gently stroking the back of it, eyes pleading.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I beg you, Hubert. Marry me, please.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">Hubert’s heart skipped a beat, or maybe two. He squeezed Sylvain’s hand, mouth agape, unable to find the words. As he searched into Sylvain’s amber gaze, all he found was the determination of a man who had nothing to lose. And Hubert had the power to change that, to give Sylvain his everything.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Yes. Yes, I will,” he finally said, chest tight, and he could swear he saw tears threatening to fall from Sylvain’s eyes before strong arms pulled him into an embrace.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“Thank you,” the cavalier whispered, voice thick and heavy with emotion.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">His own hands found their way across the wide expanse of Sylvain’s back, up and up until they reached a sea of flames. He pulled away and held Sylvain’s face only a breath away, ignoring the rapid beat of his tail slapping the bedsheets.</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">“I love you,” Hubert spoke in a whisper, keeping the declaration of his life between the two of them like a secret. “I love you so much.”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">The taste of Sylvain’s lips wasn’t any different of the usual, save for the tinge of salt on Hubert’s tongue. He knew however that those were tears of joy, and that was the taste of love.</p>
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